Donna woke to the smell of frying onions and garlic. She looked at the space on the other side of the bed. A slow smile turned up the corners of her mouth. Remembering her clothes were downstairs in the lounge, she picked up Sam’s over-sized T-shirt and slipped it over her head. After attending to her morning duties, she examined her reflection in the vanity mirror and reached for her brush. After a few strokes, her tousled mane was tamed and secured in a high ponytail on top of her head. A quick swish of minty mouthwash and she scampered downstairs, letting her nose be her guide. She retrieved her discarded panties from off the floor in front of the sofa. “Something smells delicious,” she said as she pulled them up.
Sam was in the kitchen in front of the cooker, wearing nothing but his pyjama bottoms; wire whisk in one hand, a small bowl of chopped peppers in the other. He glanced over his shoulder. “Morning, sweetheart,” he grinned, turning back to his cooking. “You’re not supposed to be up yet.”
Donna perched on one of the bar stools, propping her elbows on the snack bar and resting her chin on the heels of her hands as she regarded the red marks on Sam’s back and shoulders. “I guess things got a little… wild last night. Sorry about that.”
“Oh, you’ve seen my stripes,” Sam chuckled. “Guess that’s what I get for grabbing a tiger by the tail. They were worth it – trust me. Grab that oven-mitt and take the plates out of the microwave, if you don’t mind.”
“What do you want me to do with them?”
“Sit them on the bamboo mats. Be careful. Don’t burn yourself.”
Donna grinned as she slipped her hands in the mitts. “I’m sure if I burn my fingers that you’ll kiss them for me,” she teased.
“Them and any other bits you need kissing,” he softly chuckled as he slid the omelettes onto their heated plates.
Donna cupped the nape of Sam’s neck in her hands and turned her face up. She rose on her tiptoes. Sam softly smiled and lowered to meet her moist lips, circling her waist and pressing his body against hers. Donna thoroughly kissed him, swathing her hot velvet tongue over his. Ending the kiss, she studied his eyes. Sam licked his lips. “Mmm – minty.”
“I borrowed some of your mouthwash.”
“I see you borrowed one of my T-shirts, as well. It looks good on you.”
“Well, I had to put on something since you stripped my clothes off me in the lounge and swept me upstairs.”
Sam grinned. “You’re lucky we made it that far. I considered the landing, but I didn’t want you to hurt your back.”
Donna softly smiled. “I don’t think I would have noticed.” She motioned to the plates and picked up her fork. “So, what’s this?”
Sam sat on the bar stool next to her. “A western omelette outback style - minus the kangaroo meat - of course.”
“From the smell, I’ll need to borrow some more of your mouthwash before you take me home, or I’ll kill the guard dogs.”
“Who said I was taking you home?” he chuckled. “We don’t have to be at work until Monday. We have all weekend.”
Donna winced. “Sam… let’s don’t make this… awkward. I told you I’m not ready for anything permanent. Last night was wild and fun, and I needed that, but….”
Sam frowned. “So you’re just going to walk away? One wild night of incredible sex, and I don’t see you again?”
“I didn’t say that.”
Sam kissed the end of her nose. “So I did get to you last night.”
Donna straddled his lap and cocked her head to one side, impassively regarding him. “The question is… did I get to you?”
Sam groaned and rested his hands on her hips. “Sweetheart, let me explain it like this. A lot of women have walked through my bedroom door. You’re the first one I’ve asked to stay.”
Donna grinned. “That’s supposed to convince me?”
Sam slid his hands under her shirt and up her back, dancing his aqua eyes over hers as he leaned in to kiss her. Donna met him halfway. There was an explosive attraction between them; she couldn’t deny that. “Come on, sweetheart. You know you want to.”
“I have to admit, it is a tempting offer, and I could certainly use the distraction. There’s just one problem.”
“Nothing we can’t work around,” Sam persisted. “Tell me what it is.”
“I can’t go around all weekend wearing nothing but your T-shirt and this same pair of underwear. I have to have clothes, Sam.”
“I’ll take you shopping and buy you enough clothes for this weekend, and you’re wrong. You look extremely sexy in my T-shirt and no underwear.”
“Sam, I don’t need you to buy my clothes. I have my own money, plus, I have a black Triplet International credit card. I do need to buy some new clothes, though. Richard tells me the winters are cooler here than I’m used to.”
“See… there’s a perfectly good reason for you to stay here for the weekend.”
Donna narrowed her eyes. “You are a very persistent person, Dr. Kaliea.”
“Only because I know what I want and what I want is sitting on my knee desperately making me want to take her back upstairs and see how many more stripes my little tiger can give me.”
“I am not your little tiger!”
“Yes you are. You just don’t know it yet.”
“You’re a charmer, Mr. Kaliea, but I’m on to you.”
Sam grinned and kissed the side of her neck. “You’re definitely on to me right now.”
Donna laughed at his play on words. “Before we go out, I need to take a shower. Do I take one alone, or are you going to come and keep me company?”
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John’s seat was leant back. His eyes were closed; not so gentle snoring sounds escaping his half-open mouth. Greene shook John awake. “Sir, they’re on the move, again. Do we follow them?”
John yawned and put his seat in an upright position. He quickly scooted his seat forward. He rubbed his eyes and started the engine. “Thank goodness for that. I don’t know how much more of this bloody van seat my back could take. I’m getting too old for stakeouts.”
He watched Sam’s car on the tracker screen until it was a short distance down the coast road, and then pulled out onto Promontory Terrace behind him. It didn’t take long before John realised they were not going back to Triplet Hall, at least not yet.
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Sam pulled into the red car park at the Metrocentre. Walking around, he took Donna’s hand, brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it. Donna softly smiled. “Now, what do you need, sweetheart?”
“I would like to buy some new dresses, but I have a particular taste. I’m not easy to please.”
“I’ll say,” Sam chuckled. “The word insatiable comes to mind.”
The corners of Donna’s mouth turned up in a wry grin. “Are you complaining?”
Sam cupped her chin in his palm. “Not in the slightest,” he said and softly kissed her.
It unnerved Donna a little. She wasn’t used to being kissed in public. She found Sam refreshing. It didn’t seem to matter where they were if Sam felt like kissing her, he did. Unless he was warding off competition, or laying his claim on her, Jared had been more reserved and private with his affections.
“So tell me, Pretty Lady, what kind of dress are you looking for?”
“I like silks and satins. Something a little sparkly, with sequins, rhinestones or pearls. The kind of thing you would wear to an important event.”
Sam raised an eyebrow. “So we want a shop that sells eveningwear, then. I’m assuming this is your first visit to the Metrocentre?”
“Yes.”
“Then put yourself in my capable hands.”
Donna grinned. “I thought I had done that already.”
Sam smiled, shook his head and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side. They stopped in front of Dreams and Wishes. The gown in the display window immediately caught Donna’s eye. “This looks like my kind of dress shop,” she commented.
“We can get your dresses in Dreams and Wishes. When we’re done there, Debenhams…” he pointed, “…should have everything else you need – apart from the lacy undies,” he grinned wryly. “Do you want shoes, as well?”
Donna gave that some thought. Jared had bought her some beautiful clothes, but she wanted to put that behind her. “I wouldn’t mind buying a few new pairs of shoes,” she finally responded.
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While Sam took some of their purchases back to the car, Donna browsed through a cosmetic and perfume shop. Toward the entrance of the shop, was an intelligent looking woman sitting behind a samples table. It was the name ‘Euphoria’ in elegantly scribed gold letters that caught Donna’s attention. She picked up one of the tear-shaped lead crystal vials of shimmering pale blue liquid, no bigger around than a pencil, and about three centimetres tall. Her eyes widened. Jared’s magic potion shimmered like this. Was it a trick?
“Would you like to try some?” the woman pleasantly asked, interrupting Donna’s thoughts.
Donna softly smiled. “I have a weakness for anything crystal. Does the full-size bottle come in lead crystal, as well?”
“This is the full-size bottle,” the woman responded. “The sample only contains enough Euphoria for one application. The actual product will contain more.”
“So, it’s not available for sale yet?”
“Oh – no Madam. This product is so exclusive, the store owner is testing it to see if there’s enough demand.”
“There’s no price. How much is it?”
“Euphoria comes in three sizes. One application for £19.99, five applications for £75.99, and seven applications for £105.99.”
Donna’s mouth gaped. “Is it manufactured abroad?”
“Yes. The actual product comes from the US.”
“Then that would mean seven applications of this would cost – what - about $170.00 USD?”
“Yes, Madam.”
Donna raised an incredulous eyebrow. “What’s so special about it?”
“Well, for one thing Euphoria can be used on either sex. The perfume is intelligent. It somehow works with a person’s chemistry. It knows whether the wearer is male of female and enhances those qualities. It’s supposed to make you ooze sex appeal and desire.”
“She already does that,” Sam said, slipping an arm around Donna’s waist.
Donna rested her arm over Sam’s, tucked her chin and softly grinned. “I guess we’re wasting the lady’s time, then,” she said, studying his eyes. “I’m interested in the science behind this, though,” she continued, turning her attention back to the woman. “I’m going to buy a sample, so I can analyse it.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Richard said, handing over his black Triplet International credit card.
“Richard!” Donna started. “What are you doing here?”
Sam lifted an eyebrow. “What I want to know is how you knew we would be here.”
“Strictly coincidence,” Richard innocently replied, holding up an HMV shopping bag. “I ordered Raging Storm’s new limited edition music DVD. They notified me by email. What are you guys up to?” he asked as he put his credit card back in his wallet.
“Donna wanted to buy some new clothes. I must say, she has excellent taste.” Sam hugged her and kissed her temple.
“Yes, she does,” Richard grinned. “You should see her strut her stuff on stage. Too bad the band busted up.”
Donna furrowed her brow. “Raging Storm released the album in the UK?”
“With a little help from Triplet International,” Richard condescendingly smiled at Sam.
“I guess we’d better make a stop by HMV because I’ve got to have one of those.”
“Well, you’d better hurry. They’re flying off the shelf like hot cakes.”
“I thought I recognised you. They’ve been playing that video ever since it arrived last night. You’re her, aren’t you? The woman singing with that sexy American Indian.”
Donna swallowed the lump in her throat. “Yes, I was,” she responded with a plastic smile. “I’m afraid my musical career was short-lived.”
“In that case, when my shift is over I’m going to buy another copy. With just one album going out, your stuff will be worth a fortune in a few years. Would you autograph mine?”
Donna softly smiled. “Sure.”
Richard’s eyes twinkled. “I have a brilliant idea, pet. While you’re at HMV, why don’t you sign a few autographs? It would help boost your sales tremendously.”
“They’re not my sales, Richard. They’re Jared’s. I was just lead female vocalist. Jared was the star.”
“It doesn’t make any difference. I’ll bet we could get you a band together over here.”
Donna’s eyebrows shot up. “Who is going to sing with me? I love you dearly, Richard, but let’s face it. You can’t sing.”
Sam’s eyes filled with mischief. “No, but I can.”
Richard swallowed hard and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Unfortunately,” he muttered under his breath.